Is the Recovery Real?

While US consumers are clearly still jittery about the nation's fragile economic recovery, the country's major airlines believe they've found a formula for operating profitably even in a slow-growth environment: Stay disciplined on capacity, develop new sources of revenue via ancillary charges and keep nonfuel costs under control.
With Delta Air Lines leading the way with a $467 million second-quarter profit, the US's nine largest carriers posted cumulative net income ...

The US majors will not give up on their campaign against the Gulf carriers, which present the biggest-ever threat to the future of US airlines, the CEO of United Airlines said in a speech in New York Thursday....More

Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) president Tim Canoll said the wider public has to be educated about the threat laser pointers pose to aircraft and help law enforcement catch people shining lasers into cockpits....More

US airlines, particularly regional carriers, have expressed hope that strict pilot training requirements implemented by FAA in 2013 will be eased in FAA reauthorization legislation expected to be taken up by Congress later this year, but there will likely be a strong push back against any efforts to change the rules....More